Men's Results | Women's Results | Photo Gallery

Macon, GA – North Georgia College & State University traveled to the Mercer Run Fit Sports Invitational Saturday morning as the women raced to a 9th place finish, while the men finished 15th out of 22 teams at the Georgia Children’s Home.

The Lady Saints got things started against 24 of the best teams in the southeast, including a handful of NCAA Division I institutions as Jacksonville University took the top prize with 52 points, followed by Kennesaw State University with 95 and conference rival Columbus State University with 113. North Georgia’s women were sandwiched by a pair of PBC schools in 9th place with 222 points, as GCSU edged the Lady Saints for 8th place with 215 points, while Clayton State University came in 10th with 261. 

Emmy Lawalin continued to lead the women’s team with a time of 19:54, her fastest time of the year which was good for 32nd place. Freshmen Meghan Riggin and Katie Vance followed closely behind in 35th and 39th place with times of 20:11 and 20:17 respectively.

Taylor Hanson was the leader of the Lady Saints’ second pack of runners, finishing the 5k event in  20:45 (50th), followed by Candace Chumley in 21:12 (66th), Crystal Crouch in 21:24 (74th), and Loren Blake in 21:26 (77th).

The men followed with their 8k event as East Tennessee University ran away from the field to claim the team title with 24 total points, followed by a pair of Peach Belt Conference schools in Clayton State University and Columbus State University. The Saints finished the event in 15th place out of 22 competing schools.

Alan Schmitz led the Saints with a time of 28:11 (65th), followed by Kyle Ashcroft in 28:32 (80th). Alex Kenna continued to move up on the team, setting another personal record to cross the line in 28:38 (84th), followed closely by Tyler Mattix and Teale Marchette in 87th and 89th place with times of 28:46, and 28:48 respectively.

North Georgia will race on short rest next week as they travel to the University of the South next Friday evening for the Tiger Twilight Invitational. The women are set to race at 4:00 p.m., followed by the men at 4:45 p.m.